Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

A leading Māori academic says removing the requirement to teach Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories would be a step backwards – and a breach of children’s right to understand the country they live in.

Margaret Mutu (Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Whātua), professor of Māori Studies at the University of Auckland, told RNZ teaching local histories gives tamariki a stronger sense of belonging and helps all students understand the places they live.

“Every single school in this country sits within a hapū’s rohe. For children to grow up there and not understand who the hapū is, where their marae are, or what the place names mean, that’s a huge gap,” she said.

“Every child has a right to know whose land they stand on.”

The proposed changes are part of a growing wave of criticism of the government’s approach to Māori language, culture, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi in schools. On Tuesday, the government announced it would remove schools’ legal obligation to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, a move that has alarmed educators and Māori leaders.

In October, Education Minister Erica Stanford released the full draft of the new Years 0-10 curriculum, ahead of a six-month consultation period. It includes plans to fold Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories into the broader social sciences learning area.

The Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories curriculum was introduced in 2023 after years of advocacy from educators and iwi. It made learning about local hapū, colonisation, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi compulsory in all schools, which was a major shift from previous approaches that focused largely on European history.

An Education Review Office (ERO) evaluation found the curriculum was being well received, with Māori and Pacific students among the most engaged. It also found that many teachers felt more connected to their communities.

However, the proposed changes to the curriculum have drawn widespread criticism from educators, principals, and Māori education leaders who say they undo hard-won progress in teaching local histories and Māori perspectives.

Importance of learning local history

Central to the current Aotearoa New Zealand Histories curriculum is teaching local history. It requires ākonga (students) learn about the rohe (region) they live in and the mana whenua of that area – a requirement removed in the new draft curriculum.

But Mutu said learning local history is important for tamariki and staff, to not only understand the country they live in but make sense of global issues.

“Whether you’re Māori, Pākehā, or Hainamana (Chinese)… It’s important that they can identify themselves within the place they live and relate that more widely when they go elsewhere.

“This kind of knowledge is crucial for teaching values – about relationships between people, how you build them, and how you relate to mana whenua.”

Mutu said in her iwi of Ngāti Kahu, the approach is to start by learning about your own place and people, then expand outwards – regionally, nationally, and internationally.

“If you’ve got that foundation of who you are and where you live, it makes a huge difference to how you approach everything else.”

Understanding your own rohe is essential for understanding the wider world, she said.

“If you understand mana whenua, and the realities of having your land and histories taken, you understand what’s happening in Gaza or Ukraine.

“What’s happening there happened here.”

Mutu said the demand for local resources came directly from teachers, who wanted tools to bring the histories of their communities into the classroom.

In 2017, she published Ngāti Kahu: Portrait of a Sovereign Nation – a book detailing an in-depth history of Ngāti Kahu through the traditions of each of the sixteen hapū of that rohe.

“Teachers were asking for resources to teach about the rohe they were in,” Mutu said. “It was there, in the book. But they didn’t know how to teach from it.”

To fill that gap, Mutu created a 10-week postgraduate course showing educators how to use Ngāti Kahu’s histories in the classroom. The response, she said, was “stunning”.

“The first course was funded for 20 people – I had 50 enrol. The second had 70, and around 100 observers.”

The course gave teachers confidence to weave He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi into lessons in a way that connected with their ākonga, she said.

“Over half the students in many of our schools are Ngāti Kahu, and teachers now understand how to relate to those tamariki.

“Principals came back and said it’s made a huge difference to how they teach.”

This approach could easily be replicated across Aotearoa, Mutu said, if the Ministry supported hapū and iwi to develop local resources and lead courses for teachers.

“This kind of teaching enables them to connect to every child in their classroom.”

Associate Minister of Education and ACT Party leader David Seymour celebrated the draft curriculum as a way to “restore balance” to the teaching of history in schools.

He described the current Aotearoa New Zealand Histories curriculum as “highly political” and said it drove a “simplistic victims-and-villains narrative.”

“The Marxist ‘big ideas’ such as ‘Māori history is the foundational and continuous history of Aotearoa New Zealand.’ and ‘The course of Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories has been shaped by the use of power’ are GONE,” Seymour posted to social media.

“In their place is a new and balanced History Curriculum. In line with the ACT coalition commitment to ‘Restore balance to the Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories curriculum.'”

However, Mutu believes Seymour’s comments reveal a fundamental misunderstanding of place, belonging, and tikanga.

“It makes me sad, because it means David is not familiar with his own background or doesn’t understand the underpinnings of his own hapū.

“Those sorts of comments are totally inappropriate. A Marxist analysis doesn’t belong in te ao Māori. We don’t operate like that, we operate on tikanga.”

Mutu said if people truly understood Aotearoa’s history, race relations would look very different.

“If people knew the truth, we’d have a much kinder country. But they don’t, and they accept racist narratives that blame Māori.”

Mutu hoped future generations are not denied knowledge of their place and history.

“Every person here has a right to understand the country they live in. That knowledge comes from each hapū’s rohe, not from the government.”

She said its “very sad” that most people in Aotearoa don’t understand “its true history”.

“That’s a human rights violation.

“Please stop depriving future generations of the knowledge of whose rohe they live in, who they are, and why this country is the way it is.

“Build a better place for everyone by helping us understand each other.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Rawiri Waititi is blaming two of his MPs for turmoil within the party, accusing them of going “rogue” and trying to roll the leadership.

On Monday, party president John Tamihere called on Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Tākuta Ferris to “do the honourable thing” and step down.

But neither MP looks like leaving of their own accord. In a statement, Kapa-Kingi told RNZ she was “not going anywhere”. Ferris has yet to publicly respond, but his electorate branch is calling for Tamihere instead to resign.

Arriving at Parliament on Tuesday morning, Waititi told media the party’s national council now had a “process in play” regarding whether to expel Kapa-Kingi and Ferris from the party.

“That’s not a decision for me. That is a decision for the electorates. We’ve taken it back to the people.”

The party’s national council includes representatives from all six electorates held by the MPs.

Asked whether the party might invoke the waka-jumping provision to eject the two MPs from Parliament altogether, Waititi said their electorate seats had been “determined by their voters”.

“They are MPs of those particular electorates,” he said.

Asked for clarification later in the day, Waititi said the waka-jumping option had not been considered “at this time” but remained a possibility.

“We’re allowing our national council to work through the constitution and we need to be able to allow them to do that without having to deal with that through the media.”

Waititi said he stood by Tamihere as president and pinned blame for the internal ructions on “allegations and two rogue MPs” gearing up for a leadership coup.

“All in good time you will find that out,” he said.

Waititi confirmed he would meet with representatives from the Iwi Chairs Forum later today to “solidify the kaupapa”.

“We’re cleaning up our whare,” he said. “Our tipuna traversed the oceans to get here and many storms, and we will get through this.

“We will go through a reset. Resets don’t happen overnight and resets will continue as we continue to build the momentum of our Māori voice here.”

Fellow co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer later told reporters at Parliament it was an “honour” to meet with the iwi leaders.

“I know that it’s been disruptive, and I know that we’ve made the headlines for the reasons we don’t want to, but it’s actually been really great to know that we are owned and they feel aligned and they feel whanaungatanga [kinship] to us to be able to turn up. That’s an honour.”

Iwi Chairs Forum spokesperson Bayden Barber told RNZ on Monday iwi leaders were going to “give it our best shot” to reconcile the differences.

Tamihere avoided reporters on his way into Parliament on Tuesday morning, ducking into an apartment building’s parking lot.

Earlier, he told RNZ’s Morning Report the party’s leadership would “very shortly” consider whether to expel Kapa-Kingi and Ferris.

When asked directly if he still wanted the two MPs in the party, Tamihere said: “Not if they continue to be rogue.”

In a statement to RNZ, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi said Tamihere did not speak for her Tai Tokerau electorate.

“The people voted me as an electorate member, I’m proud to say, and therefore I’m not going anywhere. I have a job to do and I plan to continue to do it best way I know how – show up, prepare and remember who you represent.”

Asked for comment, Ferris said only that his electorate’s executive would be sending out a statement “in due course”.

Speaking before a caucus meeting on Tuesday, Labour leader Chris Hipkins reiterated his calls for Te Pāti Māori to “sort themselves out”.

“But I’d also remind people that four years ago, the National Party was tearing itself apart, and now they’re in government.”

Senior Labour MP Willie Jackson, a long-time friend of Tamihere, said he would not be taking sides.

“We’re sitting back … and just watching how this rolls out.”

Jackson said Labour would not be welcoming any defectors. He said the party was prepared in the case of any by-elections.

“We would be irresponsible if we weren’t ready … given all the talk coming out of Te Pāti Māori.”

ACT leader David Seymour said Labour had a big problem because it needed Te Pāti Māori’s numbers to take power.

“They’ve got more coup-papa than kaupapa.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere has told MPs Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Tākuta Ferris to “do the honourable thing” and quit Parliament, accusing the duo of “greed, avarice, and entitlement”.

It is the latest salvo in an increasingly public fallout between the party leadership and the two MPs.

The party’s National Council last month voted to suspend Kapa-Kingi, who is MP for Te Tai Tokerau.

The executive of Te Tai Tonga electorate – which covered the South Island and parts of Wellington – abstained from the resolution, and later called for a vote of no confidence in Tamihere.

Ferris, the MP for Te Tai Tonga, has previously backed Kapa-Kingi, telling 1News he did not support her suspension. Members of Te Tai Tonga electorate have now petitioned for Tamihere’s resignation as president, saying he has not acted in good faith.

In response to the petition, Tamihere has posted a lengthy statement on Facebook, alleging Kapa-Kingi and Ferris were destabilising due to a “desire to take over leadership” of Te Pāti Māori.

But Kapa-Kingi told RNZ she was not going anywhere and Tamihere did not speak for Tai Tokerau.

“The people voted me as an electorate member I’m proud to say and therefore I’m not going anywhere. I have a job to do and I plan to continue to do it best way I know how. Show up, prepare and remember who you represent.”

Tamihere alleges that in July, he was contacted by a Te Tai Tokerau iwi leader who had expressed concern that Kapa-Kingi had asked iwi leaders whether they would support her in a challenge for the party leadership against Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, and Ferris against Rawiri Waititi.

He said he rang Kapa-Kingi on the evening of 18 July.

“I indicated to her that if there was a case for change of leadership there had to be some reason or some cause and could you please advise me what it was. Ms Kapa-Kingi was unable to do so.”

Tamihere’s statement also references the release of documents suggesting Parliamentary Services had warned Kapa-Kingi she was on track to overspend her budget by up to $133,000, as well as the accusations Kapa-Kingi’s son Eru had unleashed a profane and threatening “tirade of abuse” at Parliamentary security last year.

“There is no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of anybody in Te Pāti Māori leadership. It is not the fault of Te Pāti Māori that Kapa-Kingi overspent her budget. It is not the fault of Te Pāti Māori that payments to her family have been disclosed,” Tamihere said.

“It is not the fault of Te Pāti Māori that Eru Kapa-Kingi seems to be the only bully in the party. It is not the fault of Te Pāti Maori that the personal interests and entitlement of Ms Kapa-Kingi and her family are now known to everyone.”

He also claims that the Kapa-Kingi family had disagreed with the 2023 draft list placings, which put Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke ahead of Mariameno Kapa-Kingi.

“Their argument was that ‘somebody in nappies’ should not be placed ahead of a Wahine Rangatira from Te Tai Tokerau. It came to pass that the Kapa-Kingi’s had no process or policy to determine anything other than Mariameno Kapa-Kingi should be number one on the list,” Tamihere said.

“The outcome of that hui was she was invited to tender her resignation as our candidate if she felt that aggrieved and we would open nominations in Te Tai Tokerau. Faced with that ultimatum we all ended up going into the wharekai for a cup of tea and the rest is history.”

Tamihere said Kapa-Kingi and Ferris should “do the honourable thing,” referencing Hone Harawira, who in 2011 quit the party and Parliament. Harawira’s resignation prompted a by-election in Te Tai Tokerau, which he won as the leader of the Mana Party.

“I guarantee Kapa-Kingi and Ferris will not do the same thing because their conduct is not based on mana, is not based on integrity and honesty or on principle. Their conduct is based on greed, avarice and entitlement,” Tamihere wrote.

RNZ has approached Te Pāti Māori and Tākuta Ferris for comment.

‘I don’t really care’ – PM

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was asked about Te Pāti Māori’s internal problems at his regular post-Cabinet press conference on Monday afternoon, and did not mince his words.

“I don’t think Te Pāti Māori are a serious outfit. I think they are activists, I think they’re performative,” he told media.

“I’ve never heard of a single policy idea from Te Pāti Māori about how they’re going to improve outcomes for Māori students, Māori health, Māori achievement, and so, you know, I don’t take them seriously.”

He said questions about working with Te Pāti Māori should be directed at Labour’s Chris Hipkins because “they have the same voting record”.

He would not say if National would rule out working with Te Pāti Māori if there was a change in the latter’s leadership.

“We came here to do serious things. This is a country that has been through a difficult set of times. We are fixing the basics and we have an awesome future that we’re focused on realising for this country, and that’s what I’m getting out of bed to do every day.

“What the hell everyone else does, I don’t really care, frankly.”

Hipkins said Te Pāti Māori’s internal issues were for it to resolve.

He repeated his call for the party to “prioritise” sorting itself out, and that the party was a “long way away” from playing a constructive role in government.

“We’re here to represent the people that put us here, we’re here to make decisions on behalf of the whole country, not just the people that vote for us. Everybody needs to keep that in mind in discharging their duties as a Member of Parliament.”

Hipkins said Labour would be competing “vigourously” in the Māori seats at the next election, but he would set out beforehand where Labour had common ground with other parties, and the bottom lines it would not cross.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere says the party’s leadership will “very shortly” consider whether to expel its MPs Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Tākuta Ferris.

Iwi leaders will meet with Te Pāti Māori leadership at Parliament on Tuesday in an effort to put a stop to extraordinary infighting.

It comes after Tamihere publicly called for MPs Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Tākuta Ferris to quit politics, accusing the pair of conspiring to overthrow the leadership. Ferris’ Te Tai Tonga electorate has separately called for Tamihere to stand down.

Kapa-Kingi last night told RNZ said had no plans to leave politics.

“JT [Tamihere] doesn’t speak for Tai Tokerau – only people of Tai Tokerau do. The people voted me as an electorate member I’m proud to say, and therefore I’m not going anywhere. I have a job to do and I plan to continue to do it the best way I know how – show up, prepare and remember who you represent.”

Ferris has not made a public comment yet, saying only that his electorate’s executive would be sending out a statement “in due course”.

Appearing on RNZ’s Morning Report, Tamihere said he did not know what issues the two MPs had.

“At no time have the Kapa-Kingis or Ferris ever put their gripe or their problem on the table. This is despite a whole range of meetings,” Tamihere said.

“We have been deeply constrained because we have to follow our constitution and our tikanga. So, as a consequence, we’ve not been able to go to the media until very recently.”

When asked directly if he still wanted the two MPs in the party, Tamihere said: “Not if they continue to be rogue.”

Tamihere said the party’s national council would be having a conversation “very shortly” about whether to expel the two MPs, but he reiterated his call for them to go of their own accord.

“If you haven’t got the numbers to change the leadership in the caucus, you haven’t got the numbers to change the leadership in the electorates. You should do the honourable thing, understand that, and go and do a Hone Harawira.”

Harawira quit the Māori Party and Parliament in 2011 and then won his way back in during the by-election as leader of the new Mana Party.

In response to calls for his own resignation, Tamihere said he would not still be in the position if there were widespread calls in the party for him to go.

“I’m not overly worried about that [petition]. That’s just the people’s choice. And it’s not running as hot as it should,” he said. “Where’s the revolution?”

He refused to respond to the MPs’ claims that he was running a dictatorship, saying they should first provide evidence of that.

“In any caucus, it’s about being disciplined. It’s about being organised. It’s about having some form of teamwork.”

Ngāti Kahungunu chairman Bayden Barber is among a handful of iwi representatives that will sit down with the party’s co-leaders and president on Tuesday to work out what, if anything, can be salvaged from here.

“We’re going to try. We’re going to give it our best shot. There’s a lot at stake in terms of an upcoming election. We’ve been challenged like no other generation from this government.

“That’s why we see it as really important to offer an opportunity for reconciliation between both parts of the party and hopefully find a solution going forward.

“Those posts that came out [on Monday] from both sides were unhelpful and unnecessary.”

Barber said the Iwi Chairs Forum wanted to meet with Kapa-Kingi and Ferris too, with the ultimate goal to get everyone together for a hui at a marae in Wellington “sometime in the near future”.

The forum wanted the party to focus on policy, he said.

“We have a government that has attacked us from every front the last couple of years, so having the only kaupapa Māori party imploding is not helpful to the cause of iwi and aspirations that we’re trying to achieve for our people.

“At the moment, there’s a big distraction and it’s been caused by the in-fighting in the party at this time, and we felt it’s important to try and get that back on track because we have a vested interest.

“This isn’t just about Te Pāti Māori supporters, this is about Māori community right around the country all feeling a bit disappointed and overwhelmed by all the tit-for-tat happening on social media.

“So we’re trying to reach out to build a bridge and find some common ground and reconcile hopefully the relationships, but the longer this goes on, the harder that is going to be.”

Labour leader Chris Hipkins told Morning Report Te Pāti Māori had “major issues” it needed to sort out, but added it’s not uncommon for political parties to have internal turmoil.

He did not rule out working with the party after the election.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A group of Māori landowners taking the government to court over freshwater rights allege the current system of water allocation is degrading water quality and shutting Māori out.

Wai Manawa Whenua is seeking timely and effective Crown action to halt further decline in water quality and a fair and durable water allocation system.

The case is [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/577593/landmark-maori-freshwater-rights-case-in-court-this-week set down in the High Court] in Wellington for Monday and Tuesday, the Crown is expected to present its evidence on Tuesday.

Lawyer Matthew Smith KC told the court that a key problem is the “first in, first served” water allocation system.

Federation of Māori Authorities (FOMA) chairperson Traci Houpapa said in many catchments water has either been fully or over allocated, which has led to a degradation in water quality.

“As ahuwhenua, we need water in order to operate our farms, our landholdings. Māori are a significant holder in the primary industries, but more importantly, we’re calling on the Crown to recognise our rights as Māori, to create a fair and equitable water allocation system with us, and then also to recognise our role as kaitiaki.”

Sometimes water isn’t available for Māori authorities because its already been allocated to other entities in the region, she said.

“What we’re saying is we need to be part of the redistribution of those allocations and to look at a new allocation system.”

Wai Manawa Whenua chairperson Kingi Smiler said Māori have been trying to resolve their rights and interests with the Crown very actively for over three decades.

Starting when the Resource Management Act was first being put in place in 1991, then again in 2012 during the policy to partially privatise state-owned enterprises, he said.

Then Deputy Prime Minister Bill English gave assurances that the Crown was committed to recognising and making appropriate provision for Māori rights and interests in water and geothermal resources, he said.

“They gave solemn promises in the Supreme Court and there have always been annually reviews by the Crown with Māori and others as to what the rules should be for allocating water in the country but they continue just to be cynical promises, not meaningful at all and simply empty promises where no action has been taken.

“Until there’s action being taken on the first-in-first-served allocation system and that system is changed, then no improvement in water quality will result.”

Smiler said in his region of Wairarapa the water quality of Lake Wairarapa has degraded dramatically to the point where it is considered super-trophic.

“So this is a very serious situation and for many years as part of treaty settlements we’ve tried to have the opportunity to have this resolved with the government but there’s no clean-up fund that’s been put in place that will address the issues that are there.”

Houpapa said there have been a number of initiatives between Māori and the government to improve water quality, including Kāhui Wai Māori/the Māori Freshwater Forum and Te Mana o te Wai, but they have only gone so far.

“In our discussions with government, we have been unhappy with the lack of progress and the lack of action. We believed coming to High Court was the course that needed to be taken in order for us to hold the Crown to account.

“What we’re doing today is asking the Crown to deliver. This is a matter important for whānau, hapū, for ahuwhenua, our trusts, Māori trusts and corporations, Māori landholding, so that we can be part of the conversations and the design of a fair water allocation system for our whenua and for ahikā.”

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